Getty Eagles star A.J. Brown had 8 catches for 119 yards and 2 TDs in a revenge game against Tennessee.
Philadelphia Eagles star receiver A.J. Brown has never been afraid to vent his frustrations on Twitter. He is not going to let strangers attack him when he believes he was in the right. Good for him. You want to see that kind of fire and passion from your best players.
Brown was taking heat for what his critics saw as a total lack of effort on the pick-six that proved to be the game-sealing touchdown for the Saints. The 25-year-old threw some shade at Gardner Minshew after the game when describing how the play broke down. Blame game aside, Brown was pissed off that people say he “loafed” on the interception and didn’t do a better job helping his quarterback out.
NFL analyst (and former Eagles linebacker) Emmanuel Acho did an excellent job explaining everything that happened on the critical pick-six, plus pointed out that a previous completion from Minshew to Brown tipped cornerback Marshon Lattimore on how to defend it. Outstanding analysis here from Acho:
“Marshon Lattimore is in press coverage,” Acho said. “Gardner Minshew earlier in the game, second quarter, he sees the exact same coverage by the Saints and what does he do? He throws a quick slant to A.J. Brown. Easy completion. So when Marshon Lattimore gets beat in the second quarter, with 2 minutes, 56 seconds left, when the play comes around in the fourth quarter, oh he ain’t going to let it happen to him again.”
And he didn’t. Lattimore sniped Minshew’s pass and took it back 12 yards for a touchdown. Game over.
Nick Sirianni Addresses Minshew-Brown Interception
After Brown and Minshew took turns throwing each other under the bus, it was time for the head coach to chime in on what happened on the controversial play. Nick Sirianni, as expected, took full responsibility for dialing up a dud. He fully admitted that it was a bad call.
“I’ll take responsibility for the interception,” Sirianni told reporters. “We came back to a play that we had run earlier in the game, and they recognized it, and they made a play off of it. And so we gave them a recognizable formation and they made a play off of it, and, you know, we put them in a tough spot right there. That’s on me.”
“They’ve been doing it all game, I just picked up on it and when it came to me I had to get it. I told my team that I owed them for the first half, I owed them that and so I got it done.”
-Marshon Lattimore on Pick 6
Sirianni also reacted to Brown’s tweet and defended his star player’s effort.
“I’ll never question our guy’s effort. A.J. gives it up for his teammates all the time, every time, and so I’m never going to question [it],” Sirianni said. “This is not a team where I ever question our effort because I know how hard these guys go for each other. And how hard they go because they’re prideful guys.”
Injury Update on Eagles Stud Josh Sweat
Sirianni confirmed that Sweat was released from a local hospital on Sunday night. The star pass rusher posted an update on Twitter which seemed to indicate he might be back for the playoffs. Hold that thought. Sirianni listed Sweat as day to day, adding that the 25-year-old was in good spirits.
“We’ll take Josh one day at a time. I’m just really thankful it wasn’t more serious there,” Sirianni told reporters. “I know everybody in that stadium was holding their breath because anytime that stretcher comes out, that’s tough to deal with. Josh was saying, ‘Hey just let me get up. I can get up.’ And the doctors in that scenario have to make sure they go through all the right channels so I felt a little more at ease because of what Josh was saying out there.”
Brandon Graham on Josh Sweat postgame. #Eagles